Guide to the Rhea Maxine deCoudres collection, 1917-2023
John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu
Published in 2024
Collection Overview
| Title: |
Rhea Maxine deCoudres collection |
| Date range: |
1917-2023 |
| Creator: |
deCoudres, Rhea Maxine |
| Extent: |
0.5 linear feet
(1 file box)
|
| Abstract: |
This collection contains the personal papers and professional writings of Rhea Maxine deCoudres, Pembroke College in Brown University "special student" who completed her studies along with the graduating class of 1927. She later became a book reviewer for the Providence Journal. The collection includes remembrances from her surviving children as well as photographs, correspondence, published and unpublished poetry, and Providence Journal book reviews by deCoudres. This collection dates from 1917 – 2023. |
| Repository: |
John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
|
| Collection number: |
Ms.2024.013 |
Scope & content
This collection contains the personal papers and professional writings of Rhea Maxine deCoudres, Pembroke College in Brown University "special student" who completed her studies along with the graduating class of 1927. She later became a book reviewer for the Providence Journal. The collection includes remembrances from her surviving children as well as photographs, correspondence, published and unpublished poetry, and Providence Journal book reviews by deCoudres. Materials date from 1917 – 2023 and are arranged alphabetically by record type.
Note: this collection guide refers to Rhea Maxine deCoudres by her maiden name. This reflects the name she used as a published journalist.
Access Points
Subject Organizations
Subject Topics
Arrangement
This collection is arranged alphabetically by record type.
Biographical/Historical Note
Rhea Maxine Bosworth deCoudres Peterson was born on November 5th, 1906, in East Hartford, Connecticut to Minnie Mary Bosworth and Thomas Hart deCoudres, Brown University class of 1890, who served as the superintendent of schools in East Hartford and Putnam, CT, respectively. DeCoudres has one younger sister, Ruth deCoudres (Holingworth).
DeCoudres and her family moved throughout New England during her childhood, including to Grafton, Massachusetts, Bristol, Rhode Island, and Putnam, Connecticut. DeCoudres studied at home until 1920 when she entered Putnam High school as a Sophomore. She entered Pembroke College in Brown University as a "special student" in approximately 1925, completing a non-degree bearing two-year course of study in 1927.
During her time at Pembroke College, deCoudres lived as a "city girl" - or someone who lives off campus - in a local apartment with her mother. She is noted as having won an academic award for excellence in French in 1926-1927, sat on the Brun Mael yearbook and Sepiad board, served as Chairman of the 1927 Spring Day Committee, played tennis, and was a notable poet. Her picture appears in the Brun Mael yearbook with the graduating class of 1927.
In 1931, deCoudres married Dr. Thomas H. Peterson, who became an orthopedic surgeon at Mass General Hospital. Together they had four sons; Hart, Bruce Bigelow, Mark Bosworth, and Joel Quentin Peterson.
DeCoudres was a stay-at-home-mother as well as a writer who worked as book reviewer for the Providence Journal Co. Her reviews centered children's literature but also included adult fiction and non-fiction titles. She furthermore published original poetry in the Providence Journal and was a prolific poet in her private life.
DeCoudres lived with asthma, survived breast cancer, and endured ill health due to long standing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). She later died from complications stemming from COPD and other age-related ailments on January 12, 1986.
Her children discovered her papers after her death and subsequently donated the collection to the Pembroke Center Archives in 2023.
Access & Use
| Access to the collection: |
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested. |
| Use of the materials: |
All researchers seeking to publish materials from the collections of the John Hay Library are requested to complete a Notice of Intent to Publish, prior to reproducing, quoting, or otherwise publishing any portion or extract from this collection. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them. |
| Preferred citation: |
Rhea Maxine deCoudres papers, MS-2024-013, Box [#], Folder [#], Pembroke Center Archives, John Hay Library, Brown University. |
| Contact information: |
John Hay Library, University Archives and Manuscripts
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: Manuscripts: 401-863-3723; University Archives: 401-863-2148
Email: Manuscripts: hay@brown.edu; University Archives: archives@brown.edu
|
Administrative Information
| ABOUT THE COLLECTION |
| Acquisition: |
Gift of Mark Peterson beginning in 2023 |
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| ABOUT THE FINDING AID |
| Author: |
Finding aid prepared by Mary Murphy, on behalf of the Pembroke Center for the Teaching and Research on Women and the Brown University Library. |
| Encoding: |
This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-10-09. |
| Descriptive rules: |
Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS) |
| Sponsor: |
Curatorial work provided by Mary Murphy and the Pembroke Center for Teaching and Research on Women on behalf of the Brown University Library. |
Additional Information
Inventory
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 1 |
|
Binder: section 1, "portrait and photograph"
|
|
1940 - 1975 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 2 |
|
Binder: section 2, "dedication by Mark Peterson [son]"
|
|
1986 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 3 |
|
Binder: section 3, "autobiography"
|
|
1922 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 4 |
|
Binder: section 4, "early writing"
|
|
1917 - 1922 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 5 |
|
Binder: section 5, "correspondence from deCoudres"
|
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1919 - 1922 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 6 |
|
Binder: section 6, "Putnam High School"
|
|
circa 1922 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 7 |
|
Binder: section 7, "home making"
|
|
n.d. |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 8 |
|
Binder: section 8, "early poetry"
|
|
n.d. |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 9 |
|
Binder: section 9, "college years poetry written at Pembroke"
|
|
circa 1926 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 10 |
|
Binder: section 10, "later poetry?"
|
|
n.d. |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 11 |
|
Binder: section 11, "memorial service poetry selections"
|
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1986 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 12 |
|
Binder: section 12, "A Coridor of Crystal by Bruce peterson [son]"
|
|
1996 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 13 |
|
Biographical summaries by Peterson children
|
|
2023 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 14 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (1 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 15 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (2 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 16 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (3 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 17 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (4 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 18 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (5 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 19 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (6 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 20 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (7 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 21 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (8 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 22 |
|
Book review for the Providence Journal (9 of 9)
|
|
1928 - 1954 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 23 |
|
Essay re: insects for Putnam High School
|
|
circa 1921 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 24 |
|
Newsletter: "Footnotes to Good Books, No.102
|
|
n.d. |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 25 |
|
Photograph (photocopy)
|
|
circa 1920 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 26 |
|
Poetry published in the Providence Journal; includes "Quatrain" and response and "No New Questions" published alongside poems by H.P. Lovecraft and Diego Rivera
|
|
1925 - 1930 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 27 |
|
Poetry (unpublished)
|
|
circa 1925 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 28 |
|
Poetry: unpublished poems submitted as classwork with teacher comments (1 of 5)
|
|
circa 1926 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 29 |
|
Poetry: unpublished poems submitted as classwork with teacher comments (2 of 5)
|
|
circa 1926 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 30 |
|
Poetry: unpublished poems submitted as classwork with teacher comments (3 of 5)
|
|
circa 1926 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 31 |
|
Poetry: unpublished poems submitted as classwork with teacher comments (4 of 5)
|
|
circa 1926 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 32 |
|
Poetry: unpublished poems submitted as classwork with teacher comments (5 of 5)
|
|
circa 1926 |
| Box [31236104065373] 1, Folder 33 |
|
Poetry: unpublished selected poems by Peterson children for subject significance
|
|
circa 1940 |